Yuki's Adventures in OuranLand
by ARTEMIS13 MAXIMUS
Summary: She's made a bet to pretend to be a boy at Ouran. What she did not count on was a new best friend, the Host Club, and the start of some very mad adventures! Will Yuki and Ace get the guys and make it out of Ouran-land?
1. Chapter 1

I heard Tamaki's voice echoing down the hallway and glanced up from the book I had been reading. Tamaki was bounding down the hall towards me, with Kyoya following close behind. They had left me sitting in the courtyard while they ran off and made 'preparations' for the Host Club that afternoon. From what Tamaki had told me as he showed me around Ouran High that day, the Host Club was some kind of social organization that entertained the girls of Ouran, and of which Tamaki was president. That last part he had emphasized numerous times.

I couldn't help wondering how, of all the juniors at Ouran, the head of the Host Club had been selected to show me around when I transferred here. I knew the headmaster had promised to assist me in my pretending to be a guy at Ouran, but having the president of Ouran's female entertainment and dating service show me around seemed like a little too much. I could get some great data and observations at the Host Club, but I was worried that my appearance as a guy would be seen through, I wasn't sure how well I could act when being bombarded by fawning girls and flirting guys. When I transferred from my old school, Madeira, to Ouran High, my mother, a famed actress and I had made a bet: I would pretend to be a guy at Ouran High and see if anyone here would find out that I was actually a girl. My mom wanted to know if I could keep up the act of being a guy, and I was interested as to how I would be treated different in society based upon my gender; it was my own personal social experiment. I was distracted from my thoughts as Tamaki and Kyoya reached me, Tamaki exclaimed,

"Hurry up Yuki! We have to get to the club before everyone else arrives!" Before I could reply Tamaki grabbed my hand and dragged me to my feet, and then began to sprint back down the hallway. I wrenched my wrist out of his grip and fell back to walk next to Kyoya. We walked in silence for a moment, and then Kyoya asked, his pen poised to write on a page of his black notebook,

"So, what were you reading back there?" I looked back at him in surprise, and then replied,

"It was As You Like It, we were reading it in my English class at Madeira. I don't have to keep reading it now that I'm at Ouran, but I like it." Kyoya smiled, jotting down a note. I wondered what he could be writing about my reading habits when, in front of us Tamaki turned suddenly and opened a pair of large white doors, with a sign above them reading 'Third Music Room.' Kyoya and I followed him inside, where there was a flurry of activity as couches and tables were pushed into position and set as if for a grand party. Tamaki turned back towards me and exclaimed with a flourish,

"Welcome to the Host Club Yuki!" I resisted the temptation to giggle at Tamaki's excitement. Kyoya and I were ignoring Tamaki's babbling about the Host Club and all the girls that were coming, when the doors opened again and three people came into the room. One was a tall, dark-haired senior who stood protectively next to a short little blond boy who I couldn't believe was a high school student. He was even shorter then me, and I am very small. The third person was what looked like a feminine boy or a girl masquerading as a guy. I looked at the person a little closer and realized they didn't have an Adam's apple and although she was wearing a boy's uniform I got the feeling the person was a girl. I guess I wasn't the only person playing as something I'm not around here. Somehow that doesn't quite surprise me. She had small delicate facial features, short dark, nearly black hair, and dark eyes, as a girl she would have been quite pretty. The girl looked strikingly familiar, as if I had seen her face before. The girl noticed me and asked quietly,

"So who is this exactly? Honey told me that Tamaki was showing someone around, but who?" Kyoya offered an answer to her question, saying,

"This is Yuki Yakusha. As you know, the transfer student that Tamaki volunteered to show around." We examined one another for a moment, and then spoke in perfect unison,

"You look familiar, have we met?" We both chuckled, and then the girl announced,

"I guess we've met somewhere before, if we both think the other looks familiar. Tamaki, Yuki is sitting with me today." Tamaki gaped at us in confusion and slight annoyance. The girl quickly added, "Of course if Yuki here doesn't mind that is?" I chuckled, I liked this girl but I didn't even know her name yet. I answered,

"I don't mind, but you care to tell me your name?" The girl gasped; apparently she had forgotten that I didn't even know her name. I couldn't blame her; it felt like we had known each other for a long time, even though we had just met.

"I'm sorry. My name's Ace Marionette." Suddenly I realized where I had seen her face, and name before. Our schools had done a penpal project 5 years ago, only we weren't allowed to sign our names to any of the letters we sent. My penpal had always signed as Marionette-doll, while I had signed as Snow-actress. After the project ended we continued to send each other letters as we got along very well and loved talking to each other, even if it was only over paper. We had also sent one another our pictures, which is how I knew her face, even though she had cut her hair since she had sent her picture. I told her excitedly,

"I can't wait to talk to you alone. I think I know where I've met you before."

"Really now? This will be good conversation then." We gave each other identical smiles, easily falling into how we interacted in our writings, even though now we were face to face. While we had been talking another one of the Hosts appeared, like Ace and I she was dressed as a boy. Apparently there was a trend in the Host Club for girls to dress as guys. That or all of us just didn't want to be part of the ridiculous female culture at Ouran, where girls worship the Host Club boys. The new girl watched Ace and I, and remarked,

"You know those two remind me of the twins in a way."

LATER

Ace and I ended up sitting on one of the couches, surrounded by girls. Apparently Ace was a host, and everyone except for the Host Club thought she was a guy. My own pretense of being a guy seemed to be working fairly well, given the fact that the Ouran girls kept commenting on what a cute boy I was. I was very pleased with my success at acting like a guy, and had already gathered plenty of observations about the unusual gender culture at Ouran, where boys are expected to be chivalrous and adorable, and girls tend to enjoy judging and ranking the boys. In between talking to the girls, I had explained to Ace my realization about us being penpals, and why I was dressed like a guy. Our happy conversation was interrupted when one of the girls who had just come over asked,

"So Ace-kun who is this?" Ace turned to her and replied,

"Well Sakura-chan, this is Yuki Yakusha. He is the new transfer student in class 2-A, a year younger than me. Tamaki and Kyoya have been showing him around today, which is why he is at the host club with us." The girls all stared at me, before stammering,

"H-he is very attractive, d-do you think he'll join the host club, Ace?" I tried to keep from blushing but I think I failed. Ace seemed used to the attention and only responded,

"He might. I keep telling him he should ask about joining, but he doesn't want to feel like he is intruding. It is his first day here, after all. Isn't that right little Yuki?" I frowned at Ace, because of the fact I was shorter and younger than her she was enjoying teasing me. I had learned how to tease her back however, and I told her,

"I told you not to call me that Acey! Just because you're taller doesn't mean anything." Now she was the one to frown and she snapped back, half-annoyed and half-amused,

"And I've told you not to call me Acey! Besides I'm older than you!" To my surprise some of the girls began to shriek and squeal as they watched us interact. I looked at them in confusion until one exclaimed,

"You two act like siblings!" The others chimed in as well,

"It's like Yuki-kun is the younger sibling who wants to impress his older brother!"

"And Ace-kun is the older brother who looks out for his annoying younger brother!" I looked at Ace and we smirked at each other, I hadn't realized coming to Ouran and pretending to be a guy would be this amusing, or that I was going to meet Ace.

The Hosts' POV

The hosts all watched Ace, and this new boy, get all the customers attention. They were acting like they had known each other for a very long time, when they had only talked for five minutes at the most. The girls were correct though, the two definitely acted like siblings.

"They're stealing my customers!" Tamaki shouted, very displeased with the two.

"Your customers? They're stealing our routine!" The twins shouted out just as displeased as Tamaki.

"Incorrect!" Ace and Yuki's voices suddenly shouted out. All of the hosts, aside from Haruhi, Kyouya, and Takashi, jumped from shock. They both let out a laugh, taken a slight enjoyment from the Hosts' reaction.

Yuki's POV

Ace informed the twins, "We didn't steal your routine. After all we aren't pretending to be gay lovers; we're pretending to be brothers. It's totally different, especially since we aren't related to each other." I added onto her statement, telling the Hosts,

"After all we only met about a half hour ago." I winked at Ace; we had decided we were going to let the Hosts figure out our secret on their own. The twins stammered,

"T-then how?" We replied in unison once again,

"That you will have to figure out on your own." Ace quickly turned to Kyoya, saying,

"And no telling them the answer once you know, that is if you don't already know." I smiled, only a day with the Host Club and I had already determined that Kyoya was the only one truly capable of digging up my records from Madeira and finding out that I was a girl and that I had known Ace before Ouran. I declared to all the Hosts,

"And from what Ace tells me, I need to speak to you later Kyoya. As for now, we have girls to get back to." I winked at the Hosts, and then Ace and I strode back to where the girls were sitting, leaving a group of very confused Hosts behind us.


	2. Chapter 2

After the club hours ended I was planning on going home and telling my parents about my day at Ouran, however Kyoya told me I should stay, as he had a question to ask me that he wanted to ask in front of the entire club. I tried to get him to tell me what it was, but every time I asked he just pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and told me, "A gentle_man_ must be patient." I didn't like the way he kept emphasizing the 'man' part of that sentence, but I let it go. As far as I knew, everyone in the Host Club except for Ace thought I was a guy. Finally, when everyone had gathered together Tamaki began by saying,

"You did very well today Yuki!" Tamaki opened his mouth to speak again however Kyoya quickly cut him off, perhaps realizing that Tamaki was going to go into a ramble,

"Yuki, how would you like to be a host from now on?" I stared at Kyoya, _that's _the question he had to tell me? Before I could respond Tamaki ran at me, trying to grab me in a hug, I quickly leapt away through, I was getting used to avoiding Tamaki. The twins were frowning at us and they declared in unison,

"But what would his type be?" Ace titled her head in confusion and questioned,

"Yuki needs a type? What about me? You guys never gave me a type!" Tamaki flew at Ace next, she evaded his hug however. He exclaimed,

"I'm so sorry my dearest daughter! We didn't mean to neglect you!" Ace sighed and replied firmly,

"It's fine Tamaki. But while we're talking about it, you guys need to give both of us types, not just Yuki. Okay?" Tamaki smiled brightly, and then thought for a moment before declaring with a flourish,

"From now on Ace-sempai will be known as the _Friendly Type_. And Yuki-sempai will be known as the _Gentle Type._" I had to choke down my laughter; Ace's fit her, but the Gentle Type? That was very ironic considering no one knew that I was actually a girl. Ace and I smirked at each other, both of us trying not to laugh, as Ace told them,

"We can live with that."

THE NEXT DAY

It was just before the club was opening and Ace was in the kitchen making instant coffee while the rest of the Hosts were sitting on the couches waiting for the girls to come in. Kyoya and Tamaki were discussing something in a corner and I noticed that Kyoya had left his laptop out on the table, and it was turned on. I glanced over at Kyoya, and then back at the laptop, wondering if he would notice if I went on the laptop and looked to see if he had any of my Madeira files saved on it. It was a worth a try, I figured, so I went over and opened the laptop screen. Honey noticed what I was doing and came over, whispering,

"Yuki…what are you doing with Kyoya's laptop?" I glanced over at Kyoya, he was still talking with Tamaki and hadn't noticed that I had opened his laptop. I smiled reassuringly at Honey and replied,

"Oh, I'm just…looking for something I think Kyoya might have…on his laptop. Don't worry!" Honey stared at me like I was going insane, but didn't comment on my odd choice of words. I was opening Kyoya's document file on the laptop when suddenly a file filed with pictures opened up and pictures began to pop up rapidly on the screen without me touching anything. I exclaimed softly in a frantic voice,

"Ah! Stupid technology! Stop it!" I tried closing out the pictures however more began to appear. And then I froze when I realized that the pictures were of a girl modeling different clothes and makeup. Why on earth does Kyoya have pictures of a random girl on his laptop? The girl looked very familiar though…Honey turned to Kyoya and asked,

"Hey Kyo-chan? Who is the girl in these pictures? She's really pretty!" I gasped slightly as the Hosts began to come over and look at the pictures, I was hoping they weren't going to figure out I had been trying to search through Kyoya's laptop. They seemed plenty distracted by the pictures however. I looked at them closer and realized that the dark-haired, lovely girl in the images was Ace. I had seen these pictures before; she had sent them to me once when she had done a photo-shoot for her mother. Ace's mother owned a successful make-up company, and she had asked Ace to model her makeup for her when Ace was in middle school. I exclaimed in excitement, keeping myself from saying her name directly,

"Hey! I've seen these before! I know this person." I glanced back and saw Kyoya standing there looking at the images. He must know that it was Ace in the pictures; however he didn't say anything, just stood there with a smirk on his face. By now Ace was coming over, and I couldn't keep myself from winking at her. It was slightly creepy Kyoya had these on his computer, although I wasn't exactly surprised he had managed to find them, it was just too amusing that the Hosts got to see these ridiculously feminine images of Ace. Ace peered over my shoulders at the pictures, and flushed bright red as she realized it was her modeling shots. She said slowly to Honey,

"Uh H-honey…those are pictures of me." Everyone looked shocked, expect for Kyoya, Mori, and I, and began to stare at Ace in disbelief. The twins exclaimed, one after another,

"No way Ace-sempai!"

"I can't believe that little miss 'A' cup can look like that." Ace and I glared at Hikaru, just because a girl looks like a guy, doesn't mean it's impossible for her to look pretty and feminine! Ace snapped at him,

"You realize how much work was put into that? It's called corsets, and slightly stuffed bras. Geez guys…" Ace was blushing even brighter red and I couldn't help poking her in her flaming cheeks and remarking,

"Are you okay Ace? You're bright red!" I smirked at her; it was just too funny that Ace's beautiful past was coming to haunt her. She giggled nervously and replied,

"Y-yes Yuki. I-I'm fine." Honey declared defensively,

"Well I think Ace looks really pretty! Don't you agree Takashi?" Mori kept his eyes on Honey, not turning to look at Ace as he answered,

"Yeah." Ace's face looked like it was going to burn off it was so bright. She stammered out,

"T-thanks! Uh…I'm going to go finish setting up now." I smiled at her; she was very adorable at times. Then I slipped away to go help her set up, so Kyoya would never know I had been trying to sneak onto his laptop. And I might have found something useful too, had not that darn laptop acted against me…

LATER

During club hours, after we had finished entertaining some girls, the twins came up to us and asked Ace,

"So have you heard yet, Ace-sempai?" She frowned at them,

"Heard what?" The twins exchanged mischievous grins. Ace looked at me and I smiled, even though I had no idea what was going on. If the twins were excited about it though, it couldn't be good. They asked again, gloating,

"You really haven't heard?" Ace was becoming annoyed as she replied, yet again,

"Yes I haven't heard of whatever it is you're talking about. Maybe I have but I wouldn't know since you aren't being specific." The twins began to speak, each one finishing the other's statement,

"There's a dance."

"To celebrated the joining of our mothers' companies."

"So we'll get to see you."

"All dressed up." Ace paled significantly and quickly said,

"Excuse me; I need to go make a call." Ace swiftly walked out of the room. I turned back to the twins and glared fiercely at them, saying,

"Great, you probably just got Ace in trouble with her mom! Or her mom in trouble with Ace! Did you have to be all annoying and tell her?" The twins titled their heads and stared at me, before remarking in unison,

"You know, you're pretty protective of Ace, Yuki. And she is a girl, even though everyone else thinks she's a guy. Are you sure you aren't…romantically interested in her?" I didn't know whether to burst out laughing or hit them both over the head. I decided on the latter, and reaching up slapped them both quickly on the side of the head before exclaiming,

"Ace and I have been friends for years, and we are just friends!" The twins glared at me before whining,

"We don't see why that's such an odd question! You're a guy and she's a girl, and you both are pretty close…" I was severely tempted to tell them that I was actually a girl, but I bite my tongue, they had to figure it out on their own, if they were ever going to figure it out. I really wanted to giggle; I never thought part of pretending to be a guy would be denying that I was in love with Ace. Instead I told them sternly,

"We are like brother and sister; I don't like her like that! And this is a ridiculous conversation, so please; go away now before I have to hit you in the head again!" The twins shrugged and giving me one last evil smirk, walked away. Ace walked back into the room and sat down on the couch next to me. She asked me,

"Hey Yuki? Want to come to my mother's party?" I smiled bright at her, we both knew that both Ace and I couldn't stand parties, but it would be fun if we could go together.

"Of course, I couldn't let you suffer through that alone." I winked at her, she laughed and answered,

"No, of course you couldn't."


	3. Chapter 3

A little after Ace invited me to the party, she had a sudden thought, asking, "Hey Yuki? Since you're coming to the party and all, want to come with me to pick out a new dress? I'm support to wear one of Mrs. Hitachiin's dresses that my mother got for me." I turned to her, considering. I had finished all my homework and my parents wouldn't mind if I was hanging out with Ace, they were excited that I had finally got to meet my long-time penpal. Right as I was about to reply the twins exclaimed, having come back over to where we were sitting,

"Hey why does he get to help you pick out a dress?" We both looked at them in confusion for a moment, and then remembered that they thought I was a guy. The twins continued,

"Yeah if you're going to be wearing one of our mother's dresses, we should be the ones to help you." Ace sighed, and I wondered if I should have warned her about the twins thinking guy Yuki and girl Ace were "romantically" interested. She told them,

"Guys, Yuki is just a friend. Anyways I haven't known you as long as I've known Yuki so I would feel uncomfortable, sorry. Besides my mother picked out a few dresses that she would prefer me to wear, so I have to choose from those." The twins persisted,

"We would still be better help than him." I sighed, and glared in some annoyance at the twins. They were just being protective of Ace, and they thought that I was somehow interested in her, but it was irritating since they were completely wrong. Ace declared, with a note of finality in her voice,

"That maybe, but you'll have to wait to see him in a dress." She stuck her tongue at them and said defensively, "And he's right here, don't be so rude to poor little Yuki." I rolled my eyes and mock-shouted,

"Hey don't call me little Yuki Acey!"

"I'll call you whatever I want too little Yuki!" Suddenly there were about 20 rabid girls running straight at us, I guess they had noticed we were teasing each other again, which they found to be adorable for some reason. It was definitely time for a quick escape. The girls squealed at us and I leapt to my feet, tripped over the couch and tumbled to the ground, hitting the floor hard even though I put out my arms to soften the blow. I rolled onto my back on the marble ground and let out a soft moaning sound, mentally telling Ace to come over to me. I heard her gasped and she rushed to my side, leaning down over me. She asked,

"Yuki are you okay?" I put a dazed look on my face and slowly shook my head, before muttering in a light-headed, confused voice,

"Y-yeah…I didn't know that you had a twin Ace." Ace's eyes widened as she realized that I was seeing double and she said firmly,

"I'm taking you to the nurse Yuki." I replied in a panicked voice,

"B-but I hate the nurse!" In a quick motion Ace wrapped her arms around me and hefted me onto her shoulders with ease, I am shorter than her and Ace is fairly strong. She told me,

"It's for your own good." I tried to pull her arms off of me, making a show of struggling dramatically, but Ace held me tightly. Ace pushed open the door to the club, and closed it swiftly behind us. Once the door was closed, Ace released her grip and I rolled off her shoulders, landing on my feet. Ace sighed and turned to me, remarking dryly,

"Well we're down one escape plan now." I sighed, that entire injury business had been a way of getting away from the club and the girls without the twins, or anyone else suspecting. But I doubted they would be so quick to let us go the next time. I shrugged and told her,

"Come on let's get out of here before they realize we were just acting." Ace nodded and we both hurried to the parking lot, where Ace's family's limo was waiting to pick us up and take us away from Ouran.

LATER

"Hey Yuki, want anything to eat? Before we go look at the dresses that is." Ace and I had just arrived at her mansion. I nodded in response to her question and she continued, "So what do you want to eat?" I paused, considering. I choose something that would be simple to make and answered,

"Do you think a grilled cheese would be manageable?" Ace smiled and nodded, walking away in the direction of what I presumed to be the kitchen. This was the first time I had been in Ace's home, however it was a standard mansion like the one my family owned, with wide open, lushly decorated spaces and a great deal of marble. I followed Ace to the kitchen, and walked in just as she was saying,

"Hey Katsu, you guys are home already? I thought mother said you guys would be back in a few days." The person Ace was speaking to was a young man in his early twenties who had Ace's deep gray, dark eyes and her small neat features. I realized that this must be her brother, Katsu, who went to college in the United States, and who was coming back to Japan with his mother for the launch party. Katsu's eyes flicked to me, and then back to Ace, he told her,

"Oh they fixed our family plane sooner then mother thought they would. First off who's that? And secondly, why are you wearing the male uniform? You realize mother will not be happy if she finds you you're not wearing the female uniform." I informed him quickly,

"Hi my name is Yuki Yakusha." Katsu's face looked less confused as he glanced at Ace, and then back over at me, remarking,

"Oh so this is your penpal, right?" While we had been talking Ace had been quickly making my grilled cheese. She tossed it out of the flying pan and onto a plate, handing it to me. Once she was finished she replied to her brother,

"Yeah, she is. And I told you about the host club, right? Well I'm pretending to be a guy, so I need to wear the male uniform. Though you are right, come on Yuki let's go change. Talk to you later Katsu!" I waved at him with the hand not holding my grilled cheese and followed Ace up a flight of marble stairs to her room. She commented,

"I think I should have something that fits, Yuki." I sighed; did she _have_ to remind me of the fact that she was taller than me? That's the part of my body that irritates me the most, the fact I am so short!

"You know how much I hate that you're taller than me, right?" Ace turned around to look at me, walking backwards down the hallway. She grinned broadly at me, and winked as she retorted,

"I know, but it's so much fun to tease you, your reactions are so amusing." I scowled at that statement; people always justify teasing me because I react in such witty and amusing ways. Of course, if I didn't react they would probably stop teasing me, but its impossible for me not to react, that's just my nature. I told her sharply,

"Glad I can be of some amusement to you." She giggled and changed the subject,

"Come on lets go get changed." Ace stopped in front of a large doorway and we walked into her room. It was completely covered in shades of black, with little bright lights set into the ceiling, giving the illusion that we were encircled in an endless night sky. I liked that image, the both of us lost into the folds of an artificial night, a night falsely created but one that we made real. Just like the Host Club creates impossible dreams and makes them real, a dream we were all lost in. Her bed continued the night theme as it was covered in slightly rumpled black blankets, and even her desk was painted a light shade of black.

Ace went over to her large, overflowing closet and selected a pair of jeans and a plain black t-shirt. She dug a little more in her closet and emerged with a simple black skirt and another black shirt. By this point I had finished my grilled cheese and I left the plate on the side-table in Ace's room to take down later. She tossed me the skirt and shirt, which I caught. She informed me,

"You can change in here; I'll go change in the bathroom."

"Okay." Ace left to change and I changed into the skirt and t-shirt, I was very happy to get out of my Ouran High uniform. Ace returned and she asked me thoughtfully,

"Hey Yuki, I was wondering if you have a dress for the dance or not?" I thought about the dresses I had at home and realized that now of them would really do for a formal ball, all my fancy dresses I had outgrown, and most of the time I refused to go to the parties my parents invited me to.

"Now that I think about it I don't. Why?" Ace grinned at me, having already thought of a solution,

"Well then we might as well pick out a dress for you while we're picking out mine!" I nodded my head in agreement; I didn't really have another option, although I wasn't exactly thrilled to be wearing a dress designed by the twins' mother. We departed Ace's room and went over to her mother's room, apparently where the dresses were. When we walked in a middle-aged woman greeted us, she was impeccably dressed, and like her children had the same dark eyes, tinged in shades of grey and black, what I was beginning to think of as the "Marionette Eyes." She greeted us with,

"Hello dear, who's your friend?"

"Hello mother. This is Yuki Yakusha. She is my penpal. We met when she transferred to Ouran. Would you mind her using one of the dresses for the party?" Ace's mother beamed at us, responding,

"Oh I've met your parents, wonderful people. Go ahead sweetie, I don't mind. I was actually just going to go meet up with Mrs. Hitachiin to finish up planning the party."

"Okay mother. Thank you, I'll see you later than." She smiled one last time at us, and then left the room. Ace turned to me, "Come on Yuki let's go find dresses."


	4. Chapter 4

The next day was Wednesday, meaning that Ace and the twins' mothers' party was in four days. The day was fairly uneventful; Kyoya, Tamaki and I had gotten into a pretty good routine where Kyoya and I would debate the current class work and any other subject that came up while simultaneously ignoring Tamaki whenever he started to ramble about his beauty or the Host Club, or really anything. That morning, I was sitting in my seat in our first period class when Tamaki and Kyoya strolled in and were instantly bombarded by waves of excited girls asking what about some secret 'theme' they had heard the club was doing for the afternoon. Tamaki announced,

"My darling princesses, all will be revealed at the Host Club this afternoon!" They walked over and slipped into their usual seats next to me, in the back corner of the classroom. I turned to Kyoya and asked in a slightly amused voice,

"What's this about a theme?" Kyoya turned to glance at me, an evil glint in his eyes that I was beginning to recognize as a sign of being up to no good.

"Why Yuki, part of being a Host is entertaining the ladies. Thus, occasionally the club has a theme for the afternoon, which all of the club members must follow along with." I groaned softly, rolling my eyes at Kyoya,

"I can't stand 'themed' events; they always end up being complete clinches compared to the culture they are trying to imitate! Plus, we have to dress up?" Suddenly Tamaki jumped out of his seat and leaned over me, pressing his face up to mine and waving a finger in front of me,

"Now Yuki! As a Host it is your job to entertain the ladies by whatever means necessary. Besides, today our theme is going to turn the Host Club into an Arabian Palace!" Tamaki was looking dreamily off into space and had apparently forgotten that he was bent over me, with his face hovering a few inches above mine. I pushed him away, snapping,

"Tamaki, get out of my personal space!" Tamaki sat back down at his desk, a wounded expression on his face. I turned back to Kyoya, who was watching Tamaki and me with an amused look. He turned back to his notebook and remarked,

"I will have your Arabian costume ready when you reach the Host Club today, you can change when you arrive." The blood drained from my face when he said that, if I was changing out in the open with the boys, they would find out I was a girl. I started to stammer,

"W-wait…Um…" Kyoya stared at me, eyebrows raised,

"Do you have a problem, Yuki?" I scowled; I wasn't giving myself away that easily, I would figure something out. I turned towards the front of the classroom, where the teacher had begun to teach the lesson,

"Nope, no problem at all Kyoya."

LATER

When I got to the Host Club that afternoon it was decked out in bright-colored, mosaic patterned tapestries and couches and pillows in Arabian inspired motifs. I was actually somewhat impressed, Tamaki, well actually probably Kyoya, had done a good job of making the Third Music Room look like an Arabian bazaar. When I arrived Tamaki was handing out costumes and trying to convince Ace to wear some flimsy sari-like dress that he was also making Haruhi wear. Ace cried out,

"No Tamaki I'm not going to wear that!" I walked over, telling him sharply,

"Tamaki if she says no, she means no." I guess since he had seen the pictures Tamaki was trying to get Ace in touch with her 'feminine' side just like he was with Haruhi. I glared at Tamaki, he had no right to force Ace into doing anything she didn't want to. Ace sighed and reluctantly told me,

"I'm going to go change now, go easy on him Yuki, okay?" I sighed, it was probably best for us not to pick a fight with Tamaki on this, but I still didn't have to like it,

"Fine Ace." Ace left with Haruhi to go get changed. My stomach sank, was now the moment when they would give me a costume and I would have to tell them all I was girl? At that moment I noticed Kyoya standing off to the side, once he saw I was looking at him, he made a quick gesture to a room hidden away in the corner of the club. I quickly walked over to him; he pointed inside the room and informed me,

"Your costume is inside, you can change in there." I exhaled deeply, Kyoya had come through for me after all, and that was actually quite surprising. And a little frightening considering I would now owe him in return. I told him quietly,

"Thanks, Kyoya." He just nodded and gave me a small smirk before walking away. I slipped inside the room and closed the door, before quickly changing into my costume, which was a pair of crimson silken pants that gathered at the ankle and an embroidered tunic and turban. When I came back out Tamaki was ordered everyone,

Quick someone's coming, get in your places!" Ace and I slipped into position on the opposite side of the twins as everyone else arranged themselves in front of the door, with Tamaki sprawled in front, his golden jewelry winking brightly. The doors opened to reveal a little boy wearing the Ouran elementary uniform, staring up at us with wide eyes. The Hosts stared back and the twins commented,

"Oh it's just a kid."

"And a boy, no less." Tamaki smiled at the boy and asked,

"What's wrong, little lost boy? Did you need something from our palace?" The boy gaped at us, and then replied in a frightened voice,

"Y-you're this place's king?" I mentally groaned, great the little kid had just unintentionally reminded Tamaki that he was the "king" of the Host Club. I glared at the boy, even though it wasn't exactly

his fault, he had still just inflated Tamaki's already massive ego. The boy stared at us,

"Well, am I wrong?" Tamaki gestured at the little kid, clearly imaging himself as an all-powerful Arabian king receiving his subjects. The image made me want to choke, even though it did bring up pleasant memories of reading _The Arabian Nights_.

"Here, little lost boy. What did you just call me?"

"King."

"Oh, 'king'! Yes indeed, I am the King of this Host Club." I rolled my eyes, everyone knew that Tamaki was king only on the official public face of the Host Club; Kyoya easily controlled the Club's actual happenings from behind the scenes, manipulating Tamaki when necessary.

"I'm Takaoji Shiro, Elementary 5th year, Class A! I hereby petition the Host Club to take me on as an apprentice." I nearly burst out laughing, he couldn't be serious, he was in elementary school! However, apparently the rules of the outside world don't apply to the Host Club, since the next thing I knew; Shiro was the Host Club apprentice.

NEXT DAY

The next afternoon at the Host Club when Ace and I had just finished entertaining a group of girls when Ace dropped her head onto my shoulder as they were leaving, sighing and closing her eyes in exhaustion. I glanced down at her and realized there were large circles beneath her eyes,

"Any reason that you're so tired, Ace?" She sighed again,

"Well yesterday Mori helped me study for history, and since I'm not very good at history that took almost four hours. Then once I got home my mother decided that she wanted my help planning the party, so that was another four hours. So by the time I started my homework it was about midnight. Which took three more hours, so I didn't get to bed until about three, and had to get up at five. So I only got two hours of sleep, and I am thoroughly exhausted." I raised my eyebrows, that sounded awful, no wonder she was tired,

"Well I'm sorry that you had such an exhausting night." She leaned further on me, breathing lightly as if she was about to fall asleep,

"It's okay, I'll just be glad when my mother's party is over and I can get extra sleep again." I nodded in agreement. Before I knew it the twins appeared in front of us and began speaking and finishing one another's sentences,

"Are you two sure,"

"You're just friends?" Inside my head there was a minor explosion, were they serious? How many times had we told them, but they still didn't listen! I yelled at them,

"Shut up you twins! Of course we're sure. She's just exhausted, okay." I glared at them until the twins turned and left. Ace and I sat there in silence, listening as Tamaki spoke to his customers about Shiro.

"My, Tamaki-kun, you have an apprentice?"

"Yes. He's still in grade school, but I like the look in his eye."

"Can such a small boy serve as a host?"

"Love has nothing to do with age." I snorted, and muttered that if that was true, Tamaki was probably a pedophile. Ace laughed lightly at my comment and we kept listening, "No, to tell the truth, even my heart begins to pound, and I always become like a little boy, when you are before me."

"Ah, Tamaki-kun…" I then heard Haruhi's voice echoing outside of their conversation, she was asking Kyoya,

"Letting him observe them at such a close distance has to make it difficult, doesn't it?" Ace frowned, and opening her eyes, glanced over at Tamaki and Shiro. When she saw Shiro sitting right next to Tamaki and his client, pressing his face up to them, Ace jumped out of her seat in surprise, it was a very awkward image. I giggled at her reaction, and stood up beside her, we walked over to where Haruhi and Kyoya were watching Tamaki, the girl and Shiro. Kyoya smiled and remarked dryly,

"He usually insists that he becomes proportionally more beautiful the closer people see him." That was actually incorrect, the closer you examine an object the more flaws and imperfections are revealed, from far away those flaws are impossible to see. Didn't Tamaki know anything? Kyoya turned back to his notebook, "Let's just let them be." I crept around to the back of where Kyoya was standing, and standing on my tip-toes, tried to read what he was writing. Kyoya and his black notebook had been driving me a little bit crazy. It was impossible to see though since I was so much shorter then him. I slipped back over to standing next to Ace and we all stood there listening to Tamaki and his client.

"You bad girl, who showed me the forbidden fruit, you're like a mermaid princess, bringing light to my sea of loneliness." Oh god, does he really think she's going to fall for that?

"I'm a mermaid princess?" Oh well, apparently she is going to fall for that, I shook my head, the girls at Ouran… Shiro suddenly exclaimed,

"If you ask me, you're more like the carp we have in our pond at home. I wouldn't want to offer you any such clumsy flattery." I gasped in delight, had he really just said that? The girl cried out,

"Carp?" Tamaki scrambled for a response,

"Oh, no he's just a child, you know. I mean, children are so frank." I started to giggle; Tamaki was obviously making things worse.

"Frank?" Tamaki paled, stammering,

"S-still, they may be frank, but I wouldn't say that you look like a carp. And supposing that you did look like a carp, it's the most beautiful carp of them all." I collapsed to the ground, holding my side, lost in a fit of hysterical laughter. Tamaki had just drowned himself in his own dumb flattery! I guess that's what happens when you don't actually know how to please a girl. I tried to get up, but started laughing frantically again when the girl shrieked,

"So I'm a carp, after all!"

"No… I didn't mean…" The girl ran away as fast as she could from Tamaki,

"Tamaki-kun, you idiot!"

"Wait, my mermaid princess!" Shiro rolled his eyes and told the now enraged Tamaki,

"Don't cry, you crybaby." The twins chortled in the backround,

"Good for you, sir!"

"That's an adorable little apprentice you have there." Ace looked down at me, I was still on the floor, I had stopped laughing but I had become very distracted by the patterns on the ceiling and hadn't gotten up yet.

"Want help up?" I nodded and Ace stretched out a hand, helping me to my feet. Of course, right as I got up the twins started playing their 'brotherly love' routine, very randomly,

"Hikaru…Hikaru, do you wish you had a brother like this?

"Silly…I could search the whole world, and not find a better brother than you, Kaoru." By now they were in each other's faces, holding each other tightly,

"Oh, Hikaru…" Their routine worked as some of the girls began to squeal and exclaim,

"Forbidden brotherly love!" I sighed; I don't like I will ever understand that part of Ouran's gender culture. Shiro leapt back, repulsed,

"Y-you're homos! And what's worse, you're twins, so that's kinkan youkan!" Ace told the twins,

"You twins, stop scaring the poor boy." The twins gave her blank looks. I agreed with Ace, Shiro really didn't need to be seeing incestuous twins, and the mysterious fact that the girls here seem to be enchanted by them. I leapt nimbly over to the twins and smacked them back on the back of the head. Ace grinned,

"Thank you Yuki." Tamaki commented to Shiro,

"I think what you mean to say is kinshin soukan." Shiro turned to look at Tamaki, a frightened look on his face. Suddenly, to make matters worse Honey randomly appeared, throwing himself on Shiro and shouting,

"Shiro-chan! Want to have some cake with me? We have chocolate and strawberry." Shiro threw him off and cried out in irritation,

"Back off!" I raised my eyebrows; Shiro had some attitude for a 5th grader. "What grade are you in? What are you doing, wearing a high school uniform?" Ace and Mori quickly went over to where Honey was, who looked crushed by Shiro's rejections. The Host Club certainly does on some emotional roller coasters during these afternoons. Mori stood over the two of them, asking in his deep voice,

"What's wrong, Mitsukuni?" Ace added,

"Are you alright?" Shiro panicked as he looked up at Mori, and Honey looked even more upset and confused as Shiro began to rage at him,

"No fair! You can't go having older friends like that!" Honey rapidly climbed up Mori's back and clung to his shoulder, crying like a toddler. And yet they are both in the same class… Ace told Shiro patiently,

"Shiro…Honey is in the same grade as Mori and I." Shiro was in the midst of a complete meltdown, and he quickly backed away from Mori and Honey, walking straight into Haruhi who was carrying a tray of hot tea. Luckily, Haruhi didn't drop her tray. Haruhi smiled at Shiro and told him,

"Are you alright? Ah, you're surprised at how everyone here, other than maybe Ace and Yuki, is so unusual?" I smiled; yes Ace and I are just two girls pretending to be guys… but other then that we are mostly normal. "I was also unable to get a grasp of the atmosphere around here at first, which considerably threw me for a loop." Shiro stared intently at Haruhi, his eyes wide, "Something wrong?"

"Are you a queer?" I sighed, he had certainly figured that out quickly. Tamaki and the twins began to panic, Tamaki rushed over exclaiming,

"Okay, that will do. Why don't you carry the tea for Haruhi?" The twins chimed in next,

"Haruhi really is manly, isn't he?"

"Go on, manly Haruhi-kun, let Shiro take care of that tea set. It's part of his training." Tamaki and the twins all laughed nervously, looking with surprise at Shiro, who had figured out what it had taken them a while to realize. Haruhi told Shiro,

"Okay, it's heavy, so be careful." Haurhi handed the tea set to Shiro, who dropped it immediately with a loud crash. Ace frowned at Shiro,

"Geez Shiro, you need to learn to listen to others better." Shiro ignored her, yelling at Haruhi,

"It's not my fault, okay? It's your fault for trying to make me do it." I widened my eyes, was this kid serious? I have dealt with some bratty kids, but Shiro was the worst. Ace's muscles tensed, and her face darkened,

"Say why?" Ace might have gone and tried to beat Shiro up but Mori told her quickly in a low, calm voice,

"Relax." Ace jumped, surprised, but loosened her muscles and lost the enraged expression from her face.

"Thanks." At that point Ace and I told all the girls that had come to the Host Club that afternoon that they had better leave; they were willing to do so since all the Hosts were paying attention to what was going on with Shiro, not to time. Shiro shouted at Tamaki,

"Hey, you should make the queer handle doing the chores! Instead, hurry up and teach me how to make a woman happy!" Tamaki gasped, and then exclaimed in a furious voice,

"What kind of attitude is that? And above all, I'm not letting you get away with smarting off to Haruhi. Place him in isolation!" The twins shouted,

"Yes sir!" And then a metal cage fell out of nowhere and landed over Shiro, locking him in.

"What is this? How come I've got cell bars dropping down on me?" Ace and I spoke in unsion,

"Yeah, really, why?" Haruhi continued after Ace and I finished,

"Yeah that's a good question, what do you guys even use it for? This is supposed to be a music room, right?" Shiro shrieked,

"Come on, let me out! Is this any way to treat your dear apprentice?" By now Tamaki had calmed down, and was sitting and drinking a cup of tea. He commanded imperiously,

"You stay in there until you learn your lesson. I took you as my apprentice because you were serious about wanting to become a host, but maybe my expectations were wrong." Shiro began to mope and whine in a tragic voice,

"I am serious. Seriously serious. I want to become a host, too! I don't have any time! Show me how! You like girls, too…You like seeing girls with happy faces, so that's why you're a host, right? Please, show me how to do it! You're a genius at it aren't you, king?" Shiro had certainly figured out how to flatter Tamaki…his speech was odd though, why did he feel this urgent need to be able to make girls happy? I leaned over to Ace and whispered,

"I bet you Tamaki is going to fall for this kids act." Ace nodded. Tamaki told Shiro,

"Well you may be sassy, but your well to become a host does at least seem to be genuine. Moreover, you are a lot like me in some ways." I almost choked, and said out loud with Haruhi,

"You poor kid." If Shiro was the boy version of Tamaki, I felt very sorry for him.

"Then, you'll turn me into the kind of host that can make women happy?"

"A host that is unable to make a woman happy is no host at all. Very well, if that's how badly you want it, think about how best to use the material you've got to work with."

"Material?" Kyoya launched into his Host Club speech next, as he spoke roses appeared in each of our hands,

"At Ouran Host Club, our fundamental policy is to use our own personal characteristics to meet the needs of our guests. Starting with the 'princely type', Tamaki…" Tamaki then posed, holding up a white rose. "Then there's the 'strong silent type' Mori." Mori had a dark blue rose. "There's the 'boy-Lolita type'…" Honey had a pink rose. "There's the 'Little-devil type'…" Hikaru had a blue rose, while Kaoru had an orange rose. "Then the 'cool type'." Kyoya himself had a violet rose. "We pride ourselves on our many variations. With the new additions of our natural rookie, Haruhi…" She had a red rose. "The 'friendly type' Ace." Ace had a black rose. "And the 'gentle type' Yuki." I had a green rose. "…we've got just about the perfect assortment. I'm not so sure we're going to find a new type beyond these."

I found Kyoya's speech to be quite interesting, I hadn't realized that everyone in this club was categorized and labeled. But it went beyond labeling, the different types were a way to maintain the balances of different people, it was like human chemistry, add too much of one element and something's going to explode, or the equation won't function correctly. Why does it not surprise me like Kyoya thinks of human relations in terms of equations of people? The twins spoke, considering Shiro's type,

"His age suggest the boy Lolita type..."

"..but that would overlap with Honey-sempai." Honey began to sob when they said that, Ace quickly knelt down next to him as he asked her,

"Is he going to replace me?" Ace placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and told Honey,

"Nobody is going to replace you Honey. We are your friends, so don't worry about it, okay?" She smiled at him, and he gave a small smile back. I remembered her telling me that she didn't like dealing with children, so I couldn't help teasing her,

"I never pictured you as a motherly type." She glared at me,

Hey I resent that! Just because I've told you I don't like kids too much doesn't mean I can't take care of them." She stuck her tongue out at me; I shrugged and chuckled to myself,

"And you said my reactions are amusing…" Suddenly a shrill, high-pitched voice echoed through the room, and I whirled around to see a high school aged girl appear with a large bow in her hair,

"Tepid! Quite tepid! Gentlemen of the Host Club, to think that you'd be so lackluster in your character analysis, I am a little bit dumbfounded."

"All right, manager, how you'd work with the material he's got? We've already got the boy Lolita type covered with Honey-semapi." I wondered if this girl was Renge, I had heard one or two of the Hosts mentioning her, but she was before I had become a Host. She was continuing to screech,

"This is why I say you're lackluster! Listen up! While it 's true that there are some girls who feel their hearts beat faster in a way that's hard to explain over boys of a younger age group, or who have baby-faces, who we call shotokon fans, it is still a fairly board category, whose preferences can be further split into even more delicate classifications. Yes, while Haninozuka-sempai may represent the little boy type of his boy Lolita category, in his case, the direction he should take…is the naughty-boy type, without a doubt!" Was this irritating girl actually our manager? Goodness, that was unforntunate…

"The naughty type?" The cage lifted from around Shiro, and he was staring at all the Hosts in disbelief and repulsion. I couldn't blame the kid; I never had to deal with anything as crazy as this when I was in 5th grade… I tugged on Ace's sleeve and whispered,

"We have a manager?" She shrugged and told me distractedly,

"Yes, well she isn't really our manager. It's a long story. But basically she moved here from France after seeing a picture of Kyoya and she deluded herself into thinking that he was her fiancée, made us do some weird video, which you might be able to get from Kyoya, and she ended up learning a lesson, but still thinks she is our manager." I nodded my head slightly, still confused at what she was doing here. Ace continued, "Uh, if you want a better explanation, then you should ask Kyoya, or something else." I nodded my head again, making a mental note to ask Kyoya about her later.

"I guess that makes sense…" Shiro shouted out, apparently disgusted with the entire Host Club,

"Never mind! There's no way I'll make her happy with this." Haruhi whispered in confusion, more to herself,

"Her?" I nodded, Shiro must be talking about some girl that he was in love with. And I guess, he thought the only way to make her love him back, was to become as charming and woman-pleasing as a Host? I sighed, that was severely twisted logic. He should just tell her how he feels, instead of trying to become the 5th grade version of Tamaki! Shiro ran towards the doors as Tamaki called after him,

"Hey Shiro! You still have your applied technique lesson coming up!" Renge pouted and complained,

"Younger boys are just no good for anything, huh? After I took the trouble of coaching him, he won't keep going." Renge got back on top of the machical platform she had appeared on and disappeared back into the ground. I shook my head; this place was just too much for me sometimes. Tamaki frowned at Shiro as he ran out the door,

"What a selfish kid, not taking a liking to the lessons he was getting." Haruhi told Tamaki flatly,

"Typically, no one would take a liking to that sort of lesson. But never mind that, aren't you a little bit concerned about him? 'I don't have any time.' What could that mean? What's more, he said something about a 'her.'" I nodded, Haruhi was right. There was something more to Shiro, and to his story then meets the eye.


End file.
